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CSD Communications

The CCDC allows you to publish data directly through the CSD as a CSD Communication. Over 5,000 structures were published in this way in 2016 making CSD Communications the No. 1 place to publish crystal structures.

Depositions where no associated scientific article is envisaged but that the depositor would like to share through the CSD are referred to asCSD Communications (formerly Private Communications to the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and will contain the author list supplied by the depositor. This may include new data collections of structures that have been previously published or structures with disorder or data collection problems that result in lower quality refinement statistics.

Benefits of sharing data as a CSD Communication include:

Recognition

A citable DOI allows you to receive credit for your structures and add the data to you ORCID record.

If you would like to reference a CSD Communication then we would recommend using the following style of citation

To specify that the data should be deposited as a CSD Communication please select the CSD Communication button on the Add Publication step and add the full author list.

You are also able to publish previously deposited data directly through the CSD as a CSD Communication at any time after deposition. To do this you should log in and go to 'My Structures'. From the list of your deposited structures, any that have a status of 'Unpublished' have not been made accessible to the public or added to the CSD. If you would like to publish any of these structures as a CSD Communication click on the 'Details' button. You will then be shown a Details page, where you should check and confirm that the author names associated with the data are correct then press 'Publish as a CSD Communication' to publish your data.

Integrity

Resulting CSD entry curated and enhanced by our scientific editors

As a CSD Communication will not have additional information available in a published paper, it is especially important for the depositor to include as much information as possible in the CIF with the crystal structure data. Information such as the modeling of disorder or experimental data (such as the compound's melting point) are not routinely added by refinement software, but will allow us to create a full and accurate database entry for the structure. For information on the data deposition process and information required please read our structure deposition or FAQ pages. The web deposition service also integrates the IUCr's checkCIF service which highlights issues with the refinement that may require further consideration. We may contact you regarding any queries arising during the editorial validation process.

Cost-free

Speed

Your data made instantly available to the world via Access Structures. Just 8 simple steps to deposit your data with us using our Deposit Structures service & for most structures only minutes from clicking Submit button to receiving the confirmation of a new or revised CCDC number for your compound.

Compliance

Meets funder data policies in a recognized repository

Security

Free long-term data preservation in a trusted repository, stored where you can access it from anywhere

Impact

Your data can be re-used by a wider community in different fields, to design drugs, new materials, etc.

Depositors of CSD Communications should be aware that a few journals will not accept papers which contain data that have previously been published in any form, including electronic publication on web pages or in a distributed database.